


Episode 10 - Interview With An Ethicist

by RobertBruceScott



Category: Star Trek
Genre: Ethics, F/F, F/M, Multi, Philosophy, Science Fiction, gamma radiation, the hulk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-11-08 17:14:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 15,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20839124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobertBruceScott/pseuds/RobertBruceScott
Summary: .(Exiled) Governor Emory Ivonovic records a wide-ranging interview with the infamous Dr. Kenny Dolphin to be broadcast over Subspace Radio Ivonovic.Meanwhile, the U.S.S. Hunter and crew brave certain death crossing Romulan space to get to the mysterious Dead Zone in search of the legendary Library of the Progenitors.“I was more interested in the way you characterized the Prime Directive,” said Ivonovic. “And linked it to genetic engineering as well as individual sovereignty issues. Probably the pithiest line in all of your writings. Care to sum it up for us?”Dolphin laughed. He then assumed a mock serious expression and slowly raised both his hands – arms outstretched. His voice took on a mock stentorian tone – his head shaking slightly side to side to add dramatic vibrato:“THOU SHALT NOT PLAY GOD!!!”.





	1. Pilgrim's Landing

Episode 10 - Interview With An Ethicist

_“…why are you out here tweaking the Tribunal’s nose and running your subversive little subspace radio program? If Star Fleet really wanted you in custody - if the Tribunal really wanted you to stand trial, they could easily have tracked you down by now…” Dr. Kenny Dolphin, Interview on Subspace Radio Ivonovic._

10.1  
Pilgrim’s Landing

  
On arriving at Pilgrim’s Landing, Dr. Kenny Dolphin met with Governor Emory Ivonovic’s representatives, who ushered him into a room and demanded all of his clothing. A suit of clothing, complete with undergarments and a highly polished pair of Wellingtons, was laid out for him. Dolphin was a bit discomfited that the governor’s representatives insisted on watching as he disrobed and then searching him for tracking devices, but they seemed satisfied once he entered the shower and allowed him to don his new wardrobe in relative privacy.  
Dolphin could not help but admire the new clothing he had been given. He had never worn anything so well made – all hand-made clothing, including the socks and undergarments. Made from fabrics with extremely high thread counts. The suit was simple, dark brown with a subtle gold pin striping and a simple white shirt, but flawlessly tailored from extremely high quality wools, silks and cotton and fitted to him so precisely that he wondered where they had gotten his measurements from.  
As he emerged from the dressing room, one of the governor’s representatives stepped up briskly behind him and administered a fast-acting sedative.

Dolphin awoke in a darkened room, seated in an overstuffed leather armchair. Another of the governor’s representatives, this time an attractive young woman, ushered him, once the sedative had worn off, to an adjoining room. A simple table supported a small amount of fresh fruit, water and a few slices of homemade breads and cheeses. The two rooms appeared to have only the one door between them. But when Dolphin returned to the interview room, only one other person was in the room – Governor Emory Ivonovic.

“I apologize for any inconvenience and discomfort, Dr. Dolphin. Your clothing and any items they contained, including your communicator, are safely stored back on New Hope and will be returned to you when you return to Pilgrim’s Landing. I hope that the gift of a tailor-made Gillano suit will serve as sufficient apology for our precautions.”  
“I take it that Gillano is a tailor on New Hope?” Dolphin responded.  
“Gillano and Sons. Established shortly after the city of Charity was founded. The shop is still located on the original main street where Philippa Gillano first opened it with her sons more than 200 years ago. Most people are unaware of the many fine goods manufactured by hand on the Colony of New Hope, but the founders of the colony brought that aesthetic with them and we natives are quite proud of the quality of our home industries.”  
“I have never worn anything so comfortable or so well-made. It is a fine gift. I had anticipated some fairly intrusive inspection on my arrival. Your representatives were respectful, if quite thorough. My doctor might learn something from how carefully they inspected my loins…”

Ivonovic laughed, then ushered Dolphin to the overstuffed chair he had awoken in. He took a seat in a similar armchair situated at a 90 degree angle. A small table between them held a carafe of ice water and two glasses. “Let’s talk a little before we begin recording. I want to be sure that you are comfortable with what we are doing here. We should lay out some ground rules – I will start: It is my intention to air this interview in its entirety, unbroken, with no edits except for those you request. If I believe we are getting into something that, for any reason, I would be uncomfortable airing, I will let you know as we are discussing it. Please let me know what areas you would like to avoid.”  
“I want to keep my family out of this,” Dolphin said. “People may be aware that I am divorced, but I don’t want my daughters or my ex-wife to suffer any more exposure than they already have in all of this.”   
“How many daughters do you have?”  
“Two.”  
“Do they still talk to you?”  
“Just recently I think things have warmed up a bit with my youngest. The elder daughter hasn’t spoken to me in years,” Dolphin said.  
Ivonovic relaxed back into his overstuffed armchair. “Count yourself fortunate, Dr. Dolphin. I have two ex-wives, three daughters and two step-daughters. None of them are on very good terms with me – we talk, but not often. I’m afraid my career has been very destructive to my attempts at family. At least you stopped at one marriage.”

“I have no intention of re-marrying,” Dolphin said.

“Wise move. If one woman divorces you – maybe it’s her. If two divorce you, you are the problem.”  
“I didn’t need the second marriage to tell me that.”

Ivonovic laughed again. “Are you ready to begin the interview? I will call my assistants in. There will be two recording specialists here throughout. They will stop us only if there is a problem with the equipment or a security issue.”  
Dolphin relaxed back into the plush leather armchair, rolled his head back, letting his body melt into it and remained motionless for several heartbeats. He leaned forward and stretched, sat up and composed himself, then said, “Let’s go.”

10.1

  
  
Crew of the U.S.S. Hunter: (Ship's Interactive Holographic Avatar - Hunter)  
  
At-Large Appellate Justice, Captain Minerva Irons  
Chief Executive Officer - Commander David Pepper  
Chief Operations Officer - Lt. Commander Mlady

Medical Director - Lt. Commander Tali Shae  
Asst. Medical Director - 2nd Lt. Jazz Sam Sinder  
Ensign Chrissiana Trei  
Forensic Specialist - Midshipman Sif  
Emergency Medical Hologram - Dr. Raj  
Tactical Medical Hologram - Dr. Kim  
  
Director of Flight Operations - Lt. Kenneth Dolphin  
Asst. Flight Dir. - 2nd Lt. Gaia Gamor  
Navigator Johanna Imex  
Navigator Eli Strahl  
Ensign Ethan Phillips  
Chief Flight Specialist Dewayne Guth  
Flight Specialist Dih Terri  
Flight Specialist Joey Chin  
Flight Specialist Winnifreid Salazaar  
  
Director of Ground Operations - Lt. Tauk  
Asst. Ground Ops Dir. - 2nd Lt. T’Lon  
Investigator Lynhart Shran  
Investigator Buttons Ngumbo  
Ensign Tolon Reeves  
Tactical Specialist Jarrong  
Tactical Specialist Belo Rys  
Tactical Specialist Belo Garr  
Tactical Specialist Belo Cantys  
  
Director of Engineering - Lt. Sarekson Carrera  
Asst. Engineering Dir. - 2nd Lt. Moon Sun Salek  
Midshipman Tammy Brazil  
Transporter Engineer K'rok  
Ensign Sun Ho Hui  
Flight Engineer Yolanda Thomas  
Flight Engineer Thomas Hobbs  
Flight Engineer Tomos  
Flight Engineer Kerry Gibbon


	2. Episode 10.2 - The Procedure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .  
Lt. Tauk considers the proposed procedure to provide him a few more months or possibly years of life...
> 
> _Boles ran his hand over his blue, hairless scalp, then squeezed the back of his own neck. “Assuming you survive the surgery and assuming it works, maybe one good year and maybe one or two not-so-good years after that. That would be the best I outcome I think we could reasonably expect. Still, there is a big difference between a few years and a few days.”_  
.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .  
One of the lines I wanted to explore was a character who has a terminal illness and for cultural reasons cannot accept the only known cure.

10.2  
The Procedure

Lt. Tauk was too weak to assent to the surgery verbally, but was able to communicate using a pad. “Will the treatment alter me genetically?” he wrote.  
Dr. Boles was sitting next to the young ferengi. “No. We will install a number of machines into your lung to generate new tissue, remove damaged tissue and replace it with newly generated tissue. Some of the tissues will be artificial, but none of this material will alter you genetically.”  
Lt. Tauk wrote another question, “How much time will this give me?”  
Boles ran his hand over his blue, hairless scalp, then squeezed the back of his own neck. “Assuming you survive the surgery and assuming it works, maybe one good year and maybe one or two not-so-good years after that. That would be the best I outcome I think we could reasonably expect. Still, there is a big difference between a few years and a few days.”

Tauk started to write on his pad, then turned and noticed 2nd Lt. T’Lon, Ensign Tolon Reeves, along with both his investigators and all four members of the tactical squad - his entire staff. It took an enormous effort for him to sigh. He removed the breather from his mouth and tried to say something, tears in his eyes from the effort. He finally settled for nodding his head.  
Dr. Tali Shae said, “Let the record show that Lieutenant Tauk has assented to the surgery.”  
Tauk was writing furiously into the pad, handed it to T’Lon. “Not fair, you bringing the entire staff here!”  
Lt. T’Lon stepped forward, caressed Tauk’s forehead. “I apologize, sir. But the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. I am simply doing my duty by our team.”  
Tauk managed a weak smile, entered another sentence into the pad and handed it back to T’Lon before the doctors ushered the ground operations team out of the small surgery: “I will get payback for this…”

10.2


	3. Episode 10.3 - The Morality of Hybridizing Sentient Species

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .  
Ivonovic interviews Dr. Kenny Dolphin about his doctoral dissertation and surprise best-seller...
> 
> _...So after I left the DA’s office…”_  
_“I heard you were fired…”_  
_“After I was fired from the DA’s office…”_  
_Emory Ivonovic laughed. “Now you have to tell us, in just a few words, why...”_  
.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .  
It is a bit odd to have an entire story revolve around a book that only exists in the story. I can't think of too many examples. The Name of The Rose comes to mind...

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 10: Interview With An Ethicist  
Scene 3: The Morality of Hybridizing Sentient Species

10.3  
The Morality of Hybridizing Sentient Species

“I don’t suppose I need to give a long introduction to my guest. In a civilization of tens of billions of people, his is a household name and a very familiar face – beloved, berated, but impossible to ignore. At Subspace Radio Ivonovic, we have simply been inundated with requests for me to interview Dr. Kenny Dolphin, author of The Morality of Hybridizing Sentient Species – which has to be the most readable doctoral dissertation in – ever – well, come on, dissertations tend to be rather dry. Dr. Dolphin also authored The Impact of Humanity on Pon Farr, the Vulcan Mating Cycle – which, in addition to the majority of polite Federation society already put off by his dissertation, made Dr. Dolphin especially unpopular in vulcan circles. And he is also the author of Fundamentals of Federation Ethics, which might well have ruined him with our constituency, if anyone had bothered to read it thoroughly. In preparation for this interview, I went back and re-read all three books. And it felt like I was reading this material for the first time, which makes me even more curious, Dr. Dolphin, what got into you that made you want to study and write all this stuff?”  
Dolphin looked up, surprised. “Well, that’s a question I wasn’t expecting. I’d have to say I first got interested in interspecies relations and particularly the status of hybrids in human culture because of all the hate crimes toward non-humans that I worked for the New York City District Attorney’s office. I suppose that interspecies violence in large population centers is kind of inevitable, but it seemed to me that the most virulent hatred was reserved for hybrids – I even saw it on the police force – and there were hybrids in police uniform, out there every day protecting the children and families of the people who just utterly reviled them. So after I left the DA’s office…”  
“I heard you were fired…”  
“After I was fired from the DA’s office…”  
Emory Ivonovic laughed. “Now you have to tell us, in just a few words, why.”

Dolphin sighed. “Performance. I took too long investigating cases, had a low conviction rate. I got interested in cases that weren’t assigned to me… I really wasn’t cut out for the job. But I took what I learned back to Harvard with me and just kept bringing in every line of inquiry to try to get at where all this anger was coming from. I tried bringing this topic to several different departments – law, criminal justice, sociology, statistics, history, biology… Ultimately, it seemed to me to fundamentally be an ethical problem that encompassed all of those disciplines, which brought me to the Philosophy department. What I found - and this is primarily what my work is known for - was there is some justification for all this anger about hybrids. It isn’t their fault or the fault of their parents - or even the doctors who provide the genetic engineering that makes these children possible. It is incumbent within the rules that those doctors have to operate by.”

“I have quoted your summation of those rules many times on this program,” Ivonovic said. “The doctors are required to ‘preserve the genetic distinctiveness of each parent species to the greatest extent possible’.”

“That language actually comes directly from Federation law. And it can so easily be taken as a directive to give hybrid children what are thought to be the best attributes of each species,” Dolphin replied. “So a hybrid human/vulcan child might be given not intelligence in the average range of vulcans, but deliberately given the highest intelligence possible for vulcans, the longest lifespan possible for vulcans, the best in human adaptability and emotional stability, the human reproductive cycle – all of these characteristics enhanced to the greatest extent possible. Parents of, if you will, naturalborn children, have a legitimate concern that their children may not have a reasonable expectation of competing against genetically engineered hybrids. Hybrids are still a very small minority of the population, but those kinds of demographics have a way of changing in a surprisingly short amount of time.”  
“And I have also seen what this policy can do at its extremes,” Dolphin continued. “We recently encountered a serial killer who was hybrid betazoid and vulcan - and had the telepathic abilities of both. Not just what might be average for either a betazoid or a vulcan - she had the telepathic abilities of the strongest betazoid and the strongest vulcan - abilities that would occur in less than one in one billion of either species if she had gotten a natural throw of the dice.”

Ivonovic leaned forward. “But those observations weren’t what estranged you from polite society throughout the Federation, were they? It was the eugenic implications that really stirred up the hornet’s nest.”  
Dolphin took a deep breath. “This is where the understanding of what I was doing went horribly off course. I offered a few thought experiments and even some of the most disciplined philosophers I knew mistook them for reasoned arguments against allowing hybrid children to be conceived at all. That wasn’t anywhere near my point.”

“What was your point? What is your point?” Ivonovic queried. “Pull this together for us.”

“The biggest problem in ethics is a failure to think things through. A failure to consider all the implications, all the potential consequences of our actions, our policies, our institutions. People want to glom onto simple rules. Simple answers. And they are always inadequate. People who had a gut dislike for hybrids have mined my writings for everything that supports their position and they take things out of context. Just so they can say ‘I’m right’ and try to impose their own selfish, homespun rules on society.”   
“What I’ve been pleading for, really all my life, is for people to just slow down and think everything through rather than standing on their prejudices. The prevailing prejudice in the Federation – or so it seemed to me at the time – was that the advent of hybrids was a wonderful thing to be encouraged and supported without introspection. The policies that came from this attitude are just not a product of careful thinking. I illustrated this with a thought experiment that has probably become the most notorious thing I have ever written.”

“Take us through that thought experiment,” Ivonovic said.

“Let me preface that by saying I did not exhaustively research this hypothesis and it should be taken as an example of things we need to think about, not settled science,” said Dolphin. “Okay, we know that the descendants of hybrids also need genetic manipulation – for several generations – often several interventions to maintain equilibrium among their genetic heritage from different species – often throughout their lifetimes. What happens when, perhaps a few thousand years from now, the vast majority of humanity has this requirement? Could we be setting our species up for complete dependence on a lifetime of genetic intervention for the majority of individuals?”   
“Another consideration is that with all this engineering, not enough of their genetic heritage is left to chance. Doctors are not gods, yet this requirement for doctors to provide genetic engineering puts them in the driver’s seat – selecting genetic traits and leaving little or nothing to chance. We know that it was chance – the mindless, brutal experimentation of nature – that made each of our species possible and successful. Are we really ready to replace that natural filter with our own under-informed prejudices?”  
  
“That sounds like an argument against allowing the human species – or for that matter the vulcan, the bajoran, the andorian – any of these species to become hybridized…” Ivonovic said.

“But that is not what I was arguing. I was only offering these as things we need to think about – and only as examples, not an exhaustive list.” Dolphin was quite animated, speaking passionately, emphasizing his words with his hands. “I didn’t spend as much time listing the many benefits of hybridization because at the time the audience I thought I was addressing were touting those benefits at the top of their lungs. But it is worth saying to everyone else – by adding the unique genetic material of vulcans into the human species, we benefit from the potential improvements in human intelligence, lifespan and physical strength. And that’s just vulcans. Each species that has born or sired partially human children has added potentials to the human genome that might never arise within humanity otherwise. And that’s just the genetic contributions – not to mention the broader cultural benefits of bringing our diverse peoples closer together into tight-knit families.”  
“I never said, ‘do not allow non-humans to mate with humans’,” Dolphin continued. “Nor did I ever advocate any sort of moratorium. Ethically, that would be unsupportable – to tell an interspecies couple who have the real potential for children that they are not allowed to have children just because it is inconvenient for the state of the science? What I was pleading for, what I am pleading for is careful study – what are the implications? What are the potential consequences? What policies could we introduce to improve the potential outcomes and avoid potential negative consequences both near- and long-term? I just want people to think all these issues through.” Dolphin raised his hands, then dropped them with a thump onto the arms of his chair in frustration.  
“What we got instead is a lot of people wanting to stop hybridization altogether and others wanting to open the floodgates and never think about the issue again. Even vulcans, andorians, trills – they all seem to succumb to extremism rather than just stopping and thinking things through for themselves. As a result, we see not only humans, but vulcans, andorians, trills, bajorans and every other species lining up on both sides of the issue and none of them with any better justification for their hardened opinions than the most transparently half-baked rationalizations. Even the vulcans seemed unwilling to think these things through rigorously, logically – instead of fixating on illogical assumptions, traditions and prejudices. Even the vulcans. I found that particularly astonishing – and frustrating.”

Ivonovic relaxed back into his chair, steepled his fingers. “Let’s talk about those vulcans…”

10.3


	4. Episode 10.4 - Navigating Romulan Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .  
The U.S.S. Hunter must cross romulan space to find the ancient Library of the Progenitors. 2nd Lt. Gaia Gamor lays out the plan for sneaking through the Romulan Star Empire without a cloaking device...
> 
> _“Once we have crossed into romulan space,” Gamor continued, “we switch to recursive warp mode, double back to cover our trail, then alter our course by 0x:0y:-90z, diving straight down out of the galactic plane. We will then adjust course to take us toward the Dead Zone. Because the majority of star systems and assets within the Romulan Empire are within a standard deviation of the galactic plane, and the outliers are primarily located above the galactic plane, the romulans should have fewer assets and sensors below the plane..."_  
.

10.4  
Navigating Romulan Space

2nd Lt. Gaia Gamor was at the front of the large conference room, standing next to a holographic chart displaying a proposed route from what was essentially the middle of federation space, through the remnants of the Romulan Star Empire to get to the mysterious Dead Zone in the Beta Quadrant. Very little was known about this area – it was not readily available to federation research vessels and the romulans were not forthcoming about the region. The most relevant information came from the Klingon Empire and mostly consisted of a long list of missing ships that had ventured there, never to return.   
Crossing romulan space was probably more dangerous now than it had been before the destruction of Romulus in the Hobus event. The largest part of the Imperial Romulan Fleet had escaped the event, along with most colonial romulan populations. Additionally, nearly 2 billion romulans had been successfully evacuated from the planet before its destruction, including the Romulan Senate.   
While the loss of 16 billion romulans – more than half their population – along with their homeworld and primary shipyards and manufacturing resources had devastated the empire, the romulan military was more on alert than ever, readier to destroy any unidentified intruder. The tendency of klingon and nausicaan pirates to raid deep into romulan space only made things worse. Star Fleet had become embroiled in endless skirmishes on the Federation side of the Neutral Zone to stop pirates at the border. Romulan warbirds had been spotted waiting inside the Neutral Zone during some of these skirmishes. Pirates interdicted on the Federation side had the option to surrender to Star Fleet. Those who made it into the Neutral Zone could expect no such mercy from the romulans.

“We are operating with a large number of assumptions,” said Gamor. “First, we assume the romulans are watching the Neutral Zone more diligently than ever. Second, we assume the romulans have managed to break the warp 10 barrier and are unconcerned about the damage that high speed warp travel causes to local spacetime. Third, we anticipate the romulans will respond to incursions into their territory with deadly force and will not negotiate. Finally, there is no reason to think that the romulans wouldn’t follow us into the Dead Zone.”  
“Taking all these into account, in my opinion, our best course of action, given we have little choice but to cross romulan space to get to the Dead Zone, is to avoid contact with the romulans, which will require us to move very fast and to take an unpredictable course. It is impossible to enter romulan space without them knowing about us. It is vital that they do not figure out where we are going,” Gamor concluded.  
Dr. Carrera took up part of the presentation. “Using recursive warp, we will not leave a traditional warp trail. That does not mean our trail will be undetectable. If the romulans look for any anomaly they can trace from a point in space through which they know we have traveled, they may well find evidence of the zip drive in eddies of reduced entropy in the fabric of spacetime. So our recommendation is that whenever we cross through any space in which we anticipate the romulans have sensors, that we do so at high warp using traditional warp mode. Once we are clear of sensor range, and only after checking for evidence of pursuit, we can switch to recursive mode. Our recommendation is to than double-back on our trail to cover the trail of reduced entropy caused by the zip drive.”  
Gamor gestured to the star map. “Our plan is to enter the Neutral Zone at warp 9 and alter our course so that when we pass the second set of sensors on the romulan side of the Neutral Zone, we appear to be making a beeline for the remnants of the Romulus system.”  
Lt. Tauk, propped up in a hover-chair, said, very quietly, his voice still weak from recovery, “Our klingon sources have told us the romulans have been very protective of that region of space. We suspect they have located significant infrastructure in that area. They might have found resources that could be salvaged from the destruction of their homeworld.”   
“Once we have crossed into romulan space,” Gamor continued, “we switch to recursive warp mode, double back to cover our trail, then alter our course by 0x:0y:-90z, diving straight down out of the galactic plane. We will then adjust course to take us toward the Dead Zone. Because the majority of star systems and assets within the Romulan Empire are within a standard deviation of the galactic plane, and the outliers are primarily located above the galactic plane, the romulans should have fewer assets and sensors below the plane. Also, since there has been less warp activity in this area, the eddies of reduced entropy left by our zip drive should be more difficult to trace. We will adjust our course so that our nadir below the galactic plane coincides with our estimate of the border between the area patrolled by the romulans and the Dead Zone.”   
“The klingons tell us the romulans do not enter the Dead Zone unless they need to,” Tauk said. He took a drink, then continued, “Apparently the romulans have not had much better luck than the klingons with ships returning from that region of space.”

Pep took a deep breath. “It is a desperate gamble, Min. But if we were to try to use klingon space to flank the romulans it would add at least three weeks to our journey and would probably have less chance of success. The romulans are really watching their border with the Klingon Empire.”  
Justice Minerva Irons leaned forward. “What are the chances the romulans know where this library is and are watching that area?”  
Lt. Tauk took a slow, difficult breath. “We should plan for it. They may not have a ship stationed in that area, but we should expect some intelligence assets – a sensor of some sort.”  
“I am recommending we come out of warp in quiet mode and stay dark for at least thirty minutes just listening,” said Dr. Carrera. “If we do trip a wire on our arrival, we should pick up its transmission and that should give us information we need to choose our next course of action – flee, fight, or continue the mission.”

Irons thought for a few moments, looking around the table. “Lieutenant Gamor, at warp 10, how long would it take a romulan warbird traveling from romulan space to the coordinates we derived from Admiral Scumuk’s notes?”

Gamor did not hesitate. “Just under seven hours.”

Irons looked around the room again. “The plan is approved, but once we arrive at our destination, our dark time will be three minutes, not thirty minutes. Sarekson, work with Hunter and automate the signal search and the search for the tripwire device. Once we are in the Dead Zone, the time for caution and strategy is over. We go straight to our mission. Surgical. In: out. Gaia – do we have an exit strategy?”  
“Two of them,” Gamor responded. “If we think we were not followed, we return along a course similar to our path to the Library. If we are followed or discovered, best speed to klingon space.”  
“That would be a very desperate gambit,” Irons said. “We cannot count on the klingons to come to our aid, nor can we count on the romulans ending pursuit at the klingon border. And that is very probably where the romulans have placed the greatest concentration of their resources.”  
“That is what we are counting on, your honor,” came Tauk’s feeble voice. “Pep got a message through to the klingons. They have agreed to put some pressure on that border. Hopefully, it will draw romulan resources away from our path.”  
“And the romulans will be less inclined to draw resources away to chase us if they’re seeing a buildup on the klingon side,” Pep concluded.  
“You are right, David. This entire mission plan is a desperate gamble. But one we must take,” Irons said.  
“Star Fleet is assigning us to this mission?” asked Lt. Cmdr. Mlady.  
“No. This assignment comes from a little further up the chain. I cannot say more about that for the moment,” Irons said. “Okay David, take us to the Library.”

10.4


	5. Episode 10.5 - The Impact of Humanity on Pon Farr

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .  
The interview on Subspace Radio Ivonovic turns to Dr. Kenny Dolphin's 2nd book, The Impact of Humanity on Pon Farr, The Vulcan Mating Cycle.
> 
> _“So you wrote an entire book about the impact of humans on the vulcan mating cycle. Were you really surprised when you ended up with a few planets full of honked off vulcans?” Ivonovic asked._  
.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .  
It seems only logical that once the taboo of sex between vulcans and humans - complete with hybrid children - has been thoroughly broken by Spock's parents, vulcans undergoing Pon Farr away from home or without access to a vulcan mate would find ready and willing help among us ever-horny humans...

10.5  
The Impact of Humanity on Pon Farr

“So you wrote an entire book about the impact of humans on the vulcan mating cycle. Were you really surprised when you ended up with a few planets full of honked off vulcans?” Ivonovic asked.  
“Well, their famous emotional self-control aside, I kind of expected more logical analysis and fewer attempts to sweep embarrassing facts under the carpet. There were a few vulcans who argued against my evidence – all of it straight from Federation demographics. Which, by the way, are getting harder to come by these days. I’m really glad I didn’t decide on civic planning for my next career.”  
“Why on earth did you want to write about the vulcan mating cycle?” Ivonovic asked. “There is no shortage of literature on it. We humans do seem quite fascinated by it.”  
“Someone very close to me just recently told me that I had accused humans of causing the eventual extinction of vulcans,” Dolphin replied. “It wasn’t the first time I was accused of saying that – there was a line in my dissertation about humans hastening vulcan extinction. That offhand comment really upset a lot of very powerful people and cost me my tenure – very nearly cost me my professorship. It would have if my notoriety had not been drawing record numbers of new students to the Philosophy department.”  
“So I wanted to set the record straight. Humans are not causing vulcan extinction – in fact we are their best hope if anything is to survive of the vulcans’ unique genetics and culture. Vulcan/human breeding continues at a breakneck pace with vulcan/human hybrids outnumbering all other human hybrids combined and more vulcan/human births each year than births of undiluted vulcans,” Dolphin said.

Ivonovic’s eyes widened. “That is an astonishing statistic.”

“To my knowledge, vulcans and humans were the first two truly distinct sentient species in the Alpha quadrant to willingly interbreed. There are species we are more biologically compatible with and species the vulcans have more biological compatibility with. But somehow there is a powerful emotional and cultural bond between humans and vulcans. In some way, we each represent the other’s most heartfelt aspirations. And I have known many human/vulcan hybrids. I think everyone who knew the late T’Lok Smith would say she was the best of us. It almost seems inevitable that our species are merging. And if the result is more people like her, we will all be the better for it.”  
“Now it’s sounding like you completely approve of hybridization,” Ivonovic mused, his fingers again steepled.  
“That is the whole thing in a nutshell.” Dolphin gestured with his fingertips tight against the tip of his thumb, creating a circle. “It isn’t my place to approve or disapprove of people of different species falling in love, wanting children. Or even wanting to interbreed and have children without being in love. It isn’t my place, it is not your place, not the place of the Federation Tribunal, nor of the Naturalborn. It is not and should not be up to us - which gets into my third book - because individual sovereignty must be at the base of our ethical system.”  
“Yet people who are otherwise egalitarian and individualistic to a fault want to have an opinion and think themselves entitled to legislate other people’s lives when it comes to whom they love, whom they sleep with, whom they marry, whom they have children with - the most intimate aspects of our neighbors’ lives.”

Ivonovic held up his hand, fingers together, palm toward Dolphin. “It almost sounds like you are talking out of both sides of your mouth, Dr. Dolphin. At one point you said people have a legitimate grievance about hybrids and with the next breath you say it is none of their business what kind of or how many hybrids are created.”

“You have it surrounded, Governor. That is it exactly. It is what I have been saying this entire time. We cannot say ‘STOP.’ We cannot say ‘GO.’ We cannot and should not try to control the most intimate of individual family decisions. What we can do is influence and shape the institutions, societal norms, policies and culture in which individuals live and breed,” Dolphin said passionately.  
“It is all about culture and what I am advocating is a culture of thoughtfulness, curiosity, inquiry, responsibility. A culture that does not tell people how to arrange their private lives, but encourages them to think things through carefully, consider and take responsibility for the consequences of their actions and take precautions and actions to try to create the best possible outcomes for their children and the culture those children will grow up in. And a culture that makes resources available to facilitate that level of thought and the potential decisions that result. This is why I focused so tightly on the rules governing the genetic interventions that make hybrid children possible. Those rules are up to us and they must be just, reasonable, and responsible – and I don’t think that they are any of those things as they stand at this moment.”

“I think I need a moment to just think that through,” said Ivonovic  
“I think we all need that moment,” Dolphin agreed.

10.5


	6. Episode 10.6 - Prognosis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .  
Dr. Tali Shae, Dr. Jazz Sam Sinder and Dr. Napoleon Boles discuss Lt. Tauk's prognosis
> 
> _ “The lung tissue factories we installed are grown from Tauk’s stem cells,” Boles responded. “They will age and degrade like any organ. We need to chart their growth and death and install new factories over a period of time. These four are the first of a long series of surgeries. Eventually, his immune system will attack the factories themselves, at which time we will be into a downward spiral..."_  
.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .  
There is a madness in Dr. Boles' method..

10.6  
Prognosis

“Looking at the case history, it’s fairly clear we need to restrict Dr. Tauk to shipboard duty.” Dr. Napoleon Boles was seated in the medical office with Dr. Tali Shae and Dr. Jazz Sam Sinder. Still officially assigned to Star Fleet Medical, Dr. Boles was still wearing the blue uniform, unlike the Hunter’s crew who wore JAG black. “He should not go on away missions unless absolutely necessary and in those cases, he should at minimum use a breather exclusively if not an entire EVA suit. We need to explore the possibility of building a breather directly into his sinus cavity.”  
“That would be really intrusive,” Dr. Jazz said.  
“Look at the case history again.” Boles tapped the reader on the desk between them. “Every episode appears to have been aggravated by breathing non-shipboard air. His immune system is always attacking his lung tissue, but it goes into overdrive when he breathes in any contaminants. I don’t think we can obtain compliance with a breather at all times shipboard, but we can control the atmosphere in his sleeping/escape pod. I want to increase his sleep time – in the pod – to no less than 11 hours daily with an enriched atmosphere mix. He can sleep a standard 8 hours during his off duty hours. The remainder should be 30 minute naps distributed throughout his day, including during his duty shift.”

“Six 30-minute naps?” asked Dr. Tali Shae.

“The controlled atmosphere and breathing will greatly improve his survivability. From what I can tell, Tauk is extremely disciplined. If he approaches his health with the same discipline he applies to solving problems, he should see dramatic improvements in both areas.” Dr. Boles squeezed the back of his neck, took a drink of something rather steamy. The steam rising from his drink was reddish and managed to appear heavy, cascading over the side of his cup.  
“Four more surgeries?” asked Dr. Jazz.  
“The lung tissue factories we installed are grown from Tauk’s stem cells,” Boles responded. “They will age and degrade like any organ. We need to chart their growth and death and install new factories over a period of time. These four are the first of a long series of surgeries. Eventually, his immune system will attack the factories themselves, at which time we will be into a downward spiral. We will also need to refresh the nanites that remove the dead tissue and install the new tissue inside his lung. Fortunately, this can be done with a monthly injection. Unfortunately, we will have to inject the nanites directly into his lung.”

“I find it hard to believe that you are not a medical doctor – not even a veterinarian,” said Dr. Jazz. “I have never heard of any procedure like this.”  
“Probably because ferengi are among the only people who might ever need it,” said Boles. “I invented the procedure to treat a prize bullgrox that had a similar genetic defect that caused its immune system to attack its own stomach linings. We could have easily corrected the problem with the animal’s genome, but any genetic editing would have disqualified the animal as a breeder – making it worthless to the rancher I was working for.”

“Wait,” Dr. Jazz objected, “you’re telling me that not only had you never before done surgery on any sentient species, you extrapolated the procedure for Lieutenant Tauk’s lung from a procedure you invented for the multiple stomachs of a ruminant?”  
Dr. Boles rubbed his neck again. “Yep.” He yawned widely.

Dr. Jazz shook his head slowly, his bajoran family earring jingling quietly. “There is a fine line between genius and madness… I’m not really certain which side of it you are on…”

10.6


	7. Episode 10.7 - Fundamentals of Federation Ethics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .  
(Exiled) Governor Emory Ivonovic interviews Dr. Kenny Dolphin about his third book, Fundamentals of Federation Ethics.
> 
> _ Ivonovic raised his eyebrows again. “So you think your work has provided some positive public service?”_  
_“Well, I was far less the surgeon re-breaking your nose in order to set it properly and far more the proverbial bull in the china shop…”_  
.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .  
Kenny Dolphin is not my avatar - until he starts talking philosophy.

10.7  
Fundamentals of Federation Ethics

“So I think it is worth going to the heart of your philosophy and after giving Fundamentals of Federation Ethics a second read – well, truthfully, I had not really paid much attention to this book and it was by far the shortest book that you wrote.” Ivonovic laced his fingers, put his hands behind his head, leaned back. “The book is remarkably short on scholarly references. Short, to the point, and more of a philosophical construct than a historical study.” Ivonovic sat forward, placed his hands on his knees, leaned toward Dolphin. “So what gives you the right to invent an ethical system for the Federation out of the whole cloth?”  
Dolphin raised his eyebrows, smiled, looked down and made an amused noise. “I didn’t cite scholarly works or historical works. I cited Federation law, and some of the human, vulcan and andorian legal precedents directly. Federation law exhaustively annotates the precedents from which it is drawn and also exhaustively explains the moral purposes for each statute. In many ways, Fundamentals was a book that any decent lawyer should be able to write without a great deal of new scholarly work. I suppose at this point I should remind you that I was a lawyer before I became an academic – and it was precisely the intersection of law and morality that brought me to the field of ethics.”  
Ivonovic chuckled. “I thought, for a moment there, you were about to say that you were a lawyer before you became a scholar, which could be taken as a bit of a dig against lawyers.”  
“You cannot have a utopia without the rule of law. Paradise is not possible without lawyers,” Dolphin said. “Besides, it was the family business…”

“Law was the family business?” Ivonovic asked.

“The Dolphins of New England were lawyers before they became Dolphins. The Second World War that dominated the middle of the 20th Century made German names very unpopular in North America – especially the name Adolph. So when my distant ancestor, Hans Adolph, fresh out of Harvard with a law degree just after the war, found himself unwelcome in Providence, he changed his name to John Dolphin. He eventually became a partner at a large firm which still bears the name and generations of my family have worked there. Typically after first serving for a number of years in a prosecutor’s office – a kind of combined public service and training ground.”  
“I grew up wanting to be a pilot,” Dolphin continued, “and only started to live that dream after failing at law and making such a mess of my academic career that I very nearly got the entire university incinerated – I could fairly say all the ruckus over my work has given the word ‘philosopher’ a black eye.”

“Am I detecting a regret about the course of your career?”

“Only inasmuch as it seemed at the time that I had made things worse. But I am not so convinced now as I was when ‘polite society’ as you put it was berating me for enabling hatred and bigotry against hybrids. At the time, I thought I had really fanned the flames as I was accused of doing. Now, I’m not so certain. I feel now that my work brought a lot of smoldering resentments out into the open, which is the only way that those resentments can be addressed and, hopefully, healed.”  
Ivonovic raised his eyebrows again. “So you think your work has provided some positive public service?”  
“Well, I was far less the surgeon re-breaking your nose in order to set it properly and far more the proverbial bull in the china shop…”

Ivonovic laughed. “We keep wandering away from the thesis of your ‘Fundamentals’…”

Dolphin ticked off points on his fingers. “Self Determination, Egalitarianism, Self Control, Consequentialism. If individual sovereignty means anything – and I think that it does to every individual at least from the human, vulcan, bajoran, andorian, bolian, denobulan, ferengi, klingon, cardassian, romulan and nearly every other species I can think of offhand... At least for themselves if not for everyone else… If it means anything, it can only be supported by corporate responsibility. Which requires individual responsibility. It’s easier to lay it out in charts than to describe it verbally.”  
“I was more interested in the way you characterized the Prime Directive,” said Ivonovic. “And linked it to genetic engineering as well as individual sovereignty issues. Probably the pithiest line in all of your writings. Care to sum it up for us?”  
Dolphin laughed. He then assumed a mock serious expression and slowly raised both his hands – arms outstretched. His voice took on a mock stentorian tone – his head shaking slightly side to side to add dramatic vibrato:

“THOU SHALT NOT PLAY GOD!!!”

It took a few moments for Ivonovic to stop laughing. “That has to be my favorite sentence in any book I have ever read.”  
“It should be the first commandment in any moral code,” Dolphin said.

10.7


	8. Episode 10.8 - Gamma Gun Galaxy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .  
While Dr. Dolphin is still en-route to meet with Subspace Radio Ivonovic, the U.S.S. Hunter's crew identify the most dangerous killer they have encountered yet...
> 
> _Dr. Moon’s eyes lit up. “And sometimes black holes at the heart of small galaxies emit gamma bursts…”_  
_Dr. Boles followed the thought: “Which are deadly to any form of life…”_  
_Dr. Moon picked up the thought again: “So if, 1.8 billion years ago, that black hole was in an emission phase and assuming its axis aligns with our galaxy…”_  
_Imex continued, “Which is a reasonable assumption, given that its galactic disc is almost exactly parallel to ours...”_  
.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .  
Of the many forces in the universe that could wipe us out, the Gamma burst is one of the scariest. A little bit of science in your science fiction.

10.8  
Gamma Gun Galaxy

About the time that Kenny Dolphin was enjoying a two-day layover at Deep Space 9 with Birlaura, prior to catching another freighter to the Colony of New Hope where he would meet with Governor Ivonovic for his interview, the U.S.S. Hunter had passed deep into romulan territory and was traveling at warp 13 well below the galactic plane. This was a very rarely used tactic simply because of the astronomical distances involved – the outer disc of the Milky Way is about 1,000 light years deep. The Hunter’s viewscreen and windows revealed far fewer stars than usual and most of those remained distant – the parallax changing only slightly despite the boat’s unprecedented velocity.

“It appears to be another spiral galaxy, much smaller than ours, and apparently rotating in the opposite direction.”

2nd Lt. Gaia Gamor had become accustomed to providing navigational and astronomical presentations in the executive conference room. Both of her navigators, Johanna Imex and Eli Strahl, were generally present for these and occasionally chimed in. Gamor had turned this presentation over to Navigator Imex as this galaxy was her discovery. Imex’s African and vulcan ancestors were both very dark skinned – Johanna Imex was nearly as dark as Gaia Gamor.  
Imex had taken Gaia’s place next to the holographic display at the front of the conference room. The executive and senior staff were present. Lt. Tauk no longer required a hover chair, although he was still moving very slowly. A breather was attached just under his nose and intruded into his nostrils.   
Dr. Carrera had brought his junior officers, Moon and Sun, as this presentation was also of interest to them. Dr. Boles was also present by invitation although he had not yet received a specific assignment and was still wearing the blue uniform of Star Fleet Medical. At the moment his commanding officer was Dr. Tali Shae, but he had not been formally attached to the medical department. While he had demonstrated an acerbic humor and a somewhat irascible personality, he had become widely admired for saving Tauk’s life.

“We have estimated the distance, based on telemetry of its parallax, to be in the range of 2 billion light years,” said Imex. “This is a previously undiscovered galaxy – at least from Federation star charts. It is not surprising – as dim and distant as it is, it might have been obscured by any number of local phenomena within the Milky Way. We are only able to find this now because of how far we are traveling below the galactic plane.”  
“Fascinating,” said Pep. “So why, of all the objects that you can now detect given our location, why is this galaxy significant?”  
“We were looking for anything that could line up with the Dead Zone,” Imex replied. “Approximately 1.8 billion years ago, the center of that galaxy lined up almost exactly with the Dead Zone. We know there is a black hole at the center of that galaxy. And Dr. Scumuk went on about gamma radiation…”  
Dr. Moon’s eyes lit up. “And sometimes black holes at the heart of small galaxies emit gamma bursts…”  
Dr. Boles followed the thought: “Which are deadly to any form of life…”  
Dr. Moon picked up the thought again: “So if, 1.8 billion years ago, that black hole was in an emission phase and assuming its axis aligns with our galaxy…”  
Imex continued, “Which is a reasonable assumption, given that its galactic disc is almost exactly parallel to ours...”

Dr. Tali Shae finished the thought: “That galaxy could be our killer.”

“Is there a way to determine when the next gamma wave might have come from it?” Justice Minerva Irons asked.  
Imex nodded. “As deadly as gamma radiation is, it only travels at the speed of light. We are currently about 500 light years below the galactic plane and will reach 1,000 light years below by the time we cross out of romulan space into the Dead Zone. I recommend we send a few probes toward the Dead Zone on trajectories designed to test for evidence of a gamma burst within the galactic plane and one, two and three standard deviations below.”  
“There is a problem with that plan,” Dr. Carrera interjected. “It would reduce the Hunter’s mass significantly and there is not much in the way of space debris – not even trace gasses down here to replace that mass with. Without that mass, we will not be able to maintain warp 13. We would have to drop out of recursive warp mode. Warp 9.7 is the fastest we can safely travel in standard warp configuration – which in this neighborhood would be similar to going from a leisurely stroll to a dead crawl.”  
Johanna Imex nodded. “That is why we are recommending a course deviation - it will add about a day to our travel time. There is a small solar system nearby. It’s a brown dwarf. There should be plenty of material in that area not only to replace the missing mass, but to provide the minerals you would need to replicate replacement drones, complete with fuel.” Next to the junior navigator, the holographic display shifted from displaying a remote galaxy to a brown dwarf solar system that included four planets – one of them a gas giant almost half the mass of the sun around which it revolved.  
“I want long range telemetry – every sensor pointed at that system,” Pep said. “Let’s make sure we’re not warping into a secret romulan military installation.”

10.8


	9. Episode 10.9 - Assistant Medical Director Dr. Jazz Sam Sinder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .  
Assistant Medical Director Dr. Jazz Sam Sinder meets with his director about Dr. Napoleon Boles. Dr. Jazz has a problem...
> 
> _Tali Shae favored her chief surgeon with an evaluating look. “You need to be a better judge of character, Sam. Trust your instincts. What is the synonym for wild genius?”_  
_“I am not a telepath, Tali,” Jazz objected._  
_Tali hit her desk with her knuckles hard enough to make objects on it jump. “Ticking time bomb. That man is going to be worth his weight in anti-matter around here. But he is also a menace. He’s an open flame in a room full of thruster fuel. He needs supervision..."_  
.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .  
I borrow a lot of my tropes and the bit with the pip is borrowed from Band of Brothers. And I will use it again...

10.9  
Assistant Medical Director Dr. Jazz Sam Sinder

A few hours later, Dr. Jazz Sam Sinder arrived for an appointment with his department director. As he arrived at Dr. Tali Shae’s private office, Lt. Cmdr. Mlady was just leaving. Jazz was well aware of their odd relationship – as the ranking physician aside from Dr. Shae, their feeding relationship was under his medical supervision. And as assistant medical director, he, along with Justice Irons, had witnessed the disclosure of their intimate relationship as required by Star Fleet. He was also aware of Mlady’s similar relationship with Pep. Apparently Mlady liked to play with her food.   
The medical implications aside, Jazz considered this not to be any of his business. He was simply following Star Fleet protocol as required. He remained professionally and personally incurious about the salacious details of the lives of his co-workers. It had taken Mlady more than a year to appreciate his disinterest, but he was gratified that she now accepted his presence in her life as her physician without embarrassment or discomfort.

Tali Shae was tremendously relaxed when Dr. Jazz walked into her private office. Even her antennae were laid back. “Something on your mind, Sam?”  
“Dr. Napoleon Boles,” Jazz rejoined. “I know he has not been formally assigned to our department, but, despite him not being a medical doctor, he should be. I hate to admit it, but the man is clearly a genius – a medical genius.”  
Tali smiled. “You don’t like him very much, do you?”  
Dr. Jazz shook his head. “Not that it should matter. He isn’t an easy man to like. But then again, you aren’t all that easy to like either and I warmed up to you – eventually. But that isn’t my concern. Dr. Boles is a full two-pip lieutenant – a senior officer. Once he becomes part of this department, I can no longer serve as your assistant director. It would create a conflict – I’m a 2nd lieutenant – I cannot supervise a senior officer.”  
“You can, and you will, Sam,” Tali replied. “You disappoint me. You have the best hands of any surgeon I have ever worked with. And in case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been around for a few more years than you. But you are underperforming as an officer. You should know protocol much better for our department. There is an exception to the rules about a junior officer supervising a senior officer – give it to me…”  
Dr. Jazz rolled his eyes: “A junior officer may supervise a senior officer in any situation that requires medical or engineering expertise the junior officer has that the senior officer lacks. I was aware of that, Tali. But I don’t think it really applies in this case. True, Dr. Boles is not a medical doctor…”  
“Full stop,” Tali Shae snapped. Her antennae came to attention - focused on Dr. Jazz. “Dr. Boles is a biologist, not a medical doctor. I don’t care how many shade tree operations he performed on Rancher Shogram’s horses, flat-horns, fleeces and bullgroxes, when it comes to operating on this crew, I want him supervised by an MD. If that isn’t me, it’s you. If that isn’t you, it’s Chrissiana. Or Sif. Or Tolon. Or even one of the holographic doctors – Raj or Kim. He doesn’t so much as touch a scalpel without one of us on his hip. He is a wild genius.”  
Jazz nodded.  
Tali Shae favored her chief surgeon with an evaluating look. “You need to be a better judge of character, Sam. Trust your instincts. What is the synonym for wild genius?”  
“I am not a telepath, Tali,” Jazz objected.  
Tali hit her desk with her knuckles hard enough to make objects on it jump. “Ticking time bomb. That man is going to be worth his weight in anti-matter around here. But he is also a menace. He’s an open flame in a room full of thruster fuel. He needs supervision. Not the smothering kind that would make him useless, but someone with a light hand on the reigns who knows when to ask the right questions. That is something you are good at, Sam. Trust yourself, you can supervise Napoleon when you need to.”  
“I was about to say I would be okay with you naming him your assistant director…”  
“You should realize by now that he is the last person I would put in charge of my department. Maybe eventually, when he learns to curb that wild streak. He does have natural leadership ability. But then, so do you, and you are far more trustworthy,” Tali Shae concluded.  
Jazz took a deep breath.  
Tali Shae retrieved a captain’s bottle from under her desk. It contained a sparkling yellow fluid. She poured two glasses, handed one to Dr. Jazz. “I have three assignments for you, Sam. Here’s the first – pineapple cider from Ocean. You need a good stiff drink.”  
Dr. Jazz made an amused sound, took a sip. “Normally, I avoid alcohol. Mostly because of the taste.” He took a longer pull at the sparkling libation. “But Justice Irons’ family makes a very tasty drink.”  
Tali Shae drained her glass, placed it on her desk with a thump. “That they do. Two more assignments, Sam. If Dr. Boles is to be useful around here, he needs to qualify as a physician’s assistant. I want you to supervise his training. The third thing I want you to do is fix that damn issue with your uniform – how dare you come in here looking like that?”  
Jazz looked down, suddenly inspecting his uniform, internally panicked. He was particularly fastidious about his appearance and personal grooming.

Dr. Tali Shae removed a small box from her desk, tossed it to her surgeon.  
Jazz caught it deftly, opened it. He removed a full, platinum pip and looked at it, still quite confused.

“Fix your uniform, Sam. It is not befitting a senior officer… No, wait, let me do it.” Tali got up, walked around her desk, removed the pip with a black dot in the center from Dr. Jazz’s collar, replaced it with the full platinum pip from his hand.  
“There. Two full pips. Now protocol allows me to generally assign you to supervise an officer of the same rank – when the need arises. And in case you’re wondering, I put in the paperwork more than a month ago. You earned this promotion. I just delayed it until Star Fleet approved Dr. Boles’ attachment to my department. This boat is really top heavy with senior officers. Minerva had to pull a few strings to get it approved. I didn’t want to lose you to another command.”   
Tali walked back around to her chair, sat back down. She looked pointedly at Dr. Jazz, then at his glass. “Are you going to finish that?”

Jazz picked up his glass, looked at it, raised it slightly to Dr. Tali Shae, then drained it.

10.9


	10. Episode 10.10 - Conspiracy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .  
Emory and Kenny try to figure out what has been happening - they put the clues together and come up with a plan...
> 
> _ “I think people want to see agency in what is more of a confluence of events,” Dolphin said. “A groundswell of change goes unnoticed until suddenly you are living in a very different society than you thought you were. What once seemed safe is now threatening – and it is very easy to imagine an organized, disciplined, malevolent group is suddenly unmaking your world...”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .  
Emory Ivonovic and Kenny Dolphin are kind of opposites in many ways - one of the big themes of this story is how these two very different men learn how to work together. Both have big story arcs.

10.10  
Conspiracy

“I think we may be about to stray into an area that I will not want to air in its entirety, if at all,” said Ivonovic. “But we have recorded nearly three hours of you waffling back and forth between quotes that would make your friends in Star Fleet boil over and sentiments that would thoroughly alienate your admirers among the Naturalborn. If I were to divide them down the middle I could get two great programs out of this… Or I could edit myself out entirely and just let you argue with yourself… Dolphin versus Dolphin…”  
Dolphin laughed. “Well, I was never trying to win any popularity contests…”  
Ivonovic laughed, then took on more of a serious expression. “You know that you and I set foot on the U.S.S. Hunter on the same day. We never met on that boat, but I think you only got there about an hour before I did…”  
“28 minutes…”  
“Why in all the Milky Way do you remember that?”  
“I was in command. I had to write up the report.”  
“You were in command of the mission to arrest me?”  
“I was in command of the U.S.S. Hunter. Technically, Captain Irons was in command of the mission.”

Ivonovic sat up, alert. “Technically? Why do you say technically?”

“Because that mission was a disgrace and Minerva Irons doesn’t make those kinds of juvenile mistakes. I’ve served with her for the better part of a year. Irons has been running missions for Star Fleet for nearly a century. She is justifiably legendary for running a tight, flawless operation. There is no way she planned that mission. Someone gave her the plan, laid it out exactly for her, specifically designed to fail – someone with enough authority to expect her to follow their orders to the letter.”  
Ivonovic ran his fingers through his silver hair. “So you don’t think I was actually meant to be captured?”

“I don’t think the Hunter’s command staff were supposed to make it out of there alive,” Dolphin said.

“So if Irons is so sharp, why did she show up in that courtroom?” Ivonovic asked.  
“Same reason you did,” Dolphin replied. “You knew that courtroom was a trap. Why do people walk open-eyed into traps? You had exculpatory evidence – you still do – somewhere... You’ve been keeping your powder dry all this time. As for Irons, no other Star Fleet crew that I’ve ever heard of could have made it out of that courtroom. Whoever set that trap seriously underestimated the hand-to-hand capabilities of the Hunter’s command staff.”  
Ivonovic raised his eyebrows. “Clearly I underestimated your detective skills…”  
“New York City District Attorney’s office. You don’t get to work there without passing their tests - and their training program. I said I took too long investigating cases – not that I was incompetent about it.”

Ivonovic laughed again. “What evidence do you have?”

Dolphin started ticking points off on his fingers: “Eighteen dead men in the most important courtroom on the Colony of New Hope. And Irons just warps away like it’s nothing. No investigation. Not a peep out of Star Fleet or the Tribunal. Your Vice Governor and all the other politicians on New Hope who should have made hay out of all those bodies to further their own agendas - silent. It’s like those men were never even there…”  
Dolphin ticked a second finger, “Second, after your cronies failed to break you out of the brig at Star Base 11, a mysterious top of the line cardassian battle cruiser, complete with a romulan cloaking device, nearly blows me out of the stars in an attempt to rescue you – and they eventually succeed, destroying the U.S.S. Challenger with all hands in the process…”  
“Third – I’m not giving you details – but clearly someone has penetrated the highest levels of Star Fleet Command and compromised some of our top officers… But the biggest clue is – you.” Dolphin pointed a finger at the governor.

“Me?” said Ivonovic, genuinely surprised. “I’m completely innocent in all of this.”

“Hardly innocent,” Dolphin replied. “But I don’t think for a second that you committed election fraud. I looked into it. That race was never close. You’ve been winning elections on New Hope your entire life. You never needed to cheat – you don’t fight fair, but you never rigged an election. You never needed to. Not only that, but why are you out here tweaking the Tribunal’s nose and running your subversive little subspace radio program? If Star Fleet really wanted you in custody – if the Tribunal really wanted you to stand trial, they could easily have tracked you down by now. Someone wants you out here doing exactly what you’re doing…”  
“It sounds to me like you think there’s some enormous conspiracy…” Ivonovic started.  
“I don’t believe in conspiracy theories.” Dolphin said flatly.  
“Neither do I,” said Ivonovic.   
“You talk about them often enough on this program,” Dolphin observed. “You have told your listeners they are victims of a vast conspiracy…”

“People are desperate to believe in conspiracy theories,” Ivonovic replied. “If I didn’t tell my listeners their problems were due to some dark plot masterminded by malefactors, they would stop listening to me in favor of someone else who did. It’s the same reason our ancestors were desperate to believe in devils and demons. Nothing motivates a following like the idea that dark forces are aligned against you.”  
“I think people want to see agency in what is more of a confluence of events,” Dolphin said. “A groundswell of change goes unnoticed until suddenly you are living in a very different society than you thought you were. What once seemed safe is now threatening – and it is very easy to imagine an organized, disciplined, malevolent group is suddenly unmaking your world.”  
Ivonovic shook his head. “Conspiracies work when there are only a few people involved. Get a lot of people invovled and someone’s going to blab. People just aren’t that disciplined. Not even the romulans. People crack. They brag. They splurge with ill-gotten gains. They cover their own asses – they document. They get cold feet – they get scared. They tell. No one is that disciplined. Not even religious fanatics.”

“Unless they have successfully completed the kolinahr,” said Dolphin. 

Ivonovic’s eyes grew wide and he looked like he was about to laugh. “Vulcans???” He fell back into his chair, bounced the back of his head off the overstuffed back cushion, looked at Dolphin again, spread his arms wide, resting them on the arms of the chair.  
The two men just looked at each other for a few moments – each evaluating the other.  
Ivonovic looked down, spoke more quietly, “Vulcans…” He looked up again. “Okay Detective Kenny, here is something that has been bothering me ever since Star Base 11. When Admiral Burton was interviewing me about my defense… Well, you’ve heard of Sorek, Brack and Evens?”  
Dolphin looked surprised. “Who hasn’t? A vulcan, a ferengi and a human partner up to create the best law firm on Earth? They have a reputation – you go up against them, you lose. I’ve been in court with Sorek. He is a spellbinding orator – best I’ve ever heard. Cost me a big case. But still, just to hear that old vulcan talk… It was actually a pleasure to take a shellacking from him.”  
“Yeah, well, Admiral Burton let slip that Sorek had been interested in my case since he learned about the pending indictment – she didn’t say since he learned I _was_ indicted... It’s one of those inconvenient little details people don’t intend to let slip because it reveals the truth.” Ivonovic leaned forward, speaking pointedly. “How did Sorek know about a pending indictment before it was delivered? Sorek is in private practice – he’s not a member of the Tribunal. I don’t care how legendary you are, no one who isn’t on the Tribunal learns about pending indictments.”

Dolphin looked incredulous. “Sorek???”

“Here’s another fact for you, Kenny,” said Ivonovic. “This may well be my last broadcast. That cardassian battle cruiser didn’t just have a romulan cloaking device. It also had a romulan puppet-master. And she is not happy with me. My program has been about reform but she wants me to push a separatist agenda. Whatever you may think of me, I am loyal to the Federation. I can cut deals with cardassians, but I cannot handle this romulan – she is way out of my league. She isn’t military. Way too polished. I wouldn’t be surprised if she answers directly to the Romulan Senate.” Ivonovic took a deep breath. “If I disappear after this broadcast, I might need rescuing…”

10.10


	11. Episode 10.11 - Deus Ex Machina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .  
The U.S.S. Hunter is trapped in a debris field as a deadly gamma wave approaches. There is nothing the crew can do to avoid certain death...
> 
> _My mother is vulcan. Given your appearance, I always assumed you were half too. You have the look,” Sun said._  
_Imex unconsciously touched her ear. “Paternal great-grandmother,” she said. She flipped her ear-tip with a finger. “Except for these, I’m completely human. You’re always so calm, so… aloof… I mean, not aloof, but nothing seems to get to you.”_  
_Sun raised an eyebrow. “When I was a child, I was told I would have to choose between being vulcan and being human. I’ve honestly never felt I had to make a decision. I’ve never tried to be one or the other. I have a bajoran grandfather on my father’s side – but no one ever told me I had to figure out how to be bajoran...”_  
.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .  
Every once in a while, I like for my characters to turn and wink at the reader. Justice Irons is winking at you at the end of this scene...

10.11  
Deus Ex Machina

About the time that Kenny Dolphin was arriving at Pilgrim’s Landing and disrobing at the behest of the governor’s representatives, 2nd Lt. Gaia Gamor (at the navigator’s station), Ensign Ethan Phillips (at the tactical station) and Chief Dewayne Guth (at the pilot’s station) were collaborating to move the Hunter very carefully through a massive debris field that had no obvious business covering as yet unmeasured parsecs almost 800 light years below the galactic plane near the border between the Romulan Star Empire and the Dead Zone.   
Wherever the Hunter’s running lights illuminated large metal sections, the metal had a greenish sheen to it. The technology was vaguely familiar looking, but no one could identify where they had seen its like before. The scale beggared imagination - dozens of solar systems could easily fit into those parts of the debris field that could be seen, and sensor readings indicated the debris field went on and on for light years in several directions and was more than thousand kilometers deep.  
The U.S.S. Hunter had temporarily deactivated its holographic interactive avatar. The artificial intelligence was thoroughly engaged in micro targeting the deflectors and the sensors to protect the hull from small debris moving at various, apparently random velocities within the vast field.

Commander David Pepper was in the captain’s chair, gripping it as though he might suddenly be required to use the arms of the chair to steer the boat by brute force. Chief Guth was flying the Hunter manually, using the control stick from under the pilot’s console that had last been used by Kenny Dolphin in the landing on Ocean nearly seven months previously.  
No one was talking – as if their silence would somehow make it easier to detect and avoid chunks of debris. Those crew members who were not glued to their workstations were glued to viewscreens or windows. None of the holographic systems were in use. The load on the computer was so heavy that Hunter had recruited Dr. Kim, the evolved personality stored on the tactical unit initially to serve as an emergency doctor, to separately operate the tactical unit’s shield and sensor array.   
In the ground operations center, Lt. Tauk kept getting up to pace, getting tired and returning to his seat. 2nd Lt. T’Lon and her investigators were glued to their workstations, analyzing telemetry, seeking a good target. Ensign Tolon Reeves and his four tactical specialists were in transporter room #1 - wearing EVA suits and ready to beam over to any part of the structure that might turn out to be complete enough to merit an away mission.

Navigator Johanna Imex was on deck 2 in deflector control and the main navigation center. She opened a channel to the bridge. “Commander, I am reading a strong gamma burst at -87 degrees z axis. It should arrive in 48 minutes.”  
Pep’s voice came from the bridge, “Plot an escape course.”  
“There isn’t one,” Imex replied. “We are barely able to move in this debris field. There is no direction that we can go to warp that would not shred the Hunter. We can’t even go back down toward the burst - it would reach us before we could clear the field.”  
“Recommendations?” Pep asked.  
Dr. Carrera responded from main engineering: “Put the densest piece of debris we can find between us and that burst, angle the vessel’s nose away from the wave to provide lowest possible angle of exposure and focus deflectors between us and that gamma wave.”  
On the bridge, 2nd Lt. Gamor spoke up, “Ethan, Johanna, take a look at the large section above us to the port side - what does that look like to you?”  
“It looks like some sort of hanger bay,” Ensign Phillips said.  
From deflector control, Navigator Imex concurred. “Parking for big ships. It is as dense as anything I can find in this area.”  
“Put us inside, nose up at +93z and leave enough room between the tail of our main nacelle and that object for our shields,” Pep ordered. “Dr. C., get me those shields!”  
“We’re on it,” Carerra replied from main engineering. “Hui, join Imex in deflector control. Hunter will configure the shields. I need you to keep an eye on the output. We’re going need to those emitters running at 110% when that wave gets here – and not before.”

Ensign Sun Ho Hui was not much taller than Dr. Carrera – both men barely over 5’ and both small of build. Both trained regularly on the track on deck 5 and were fast runners. With deflector control only two decks up, Sun took to the ladders as he could scramble up in less time that it would take to wait for the lift. On arriving in deflector control, he quickly set up a screen to monitor the approaching gamma wave and another to monitor deflector output. After verifying the most advantageous deflector configuration, he set up the output matrix to oversaturate the deflectors to 110% in the seconds before projected gamma wave arrival. He also set up a switch that would do the same thing as a manual failsafe.  
“It won’t be enough,” said Navigator Johanna Imex, looking over Sun’s shoulder. We could run those emitters at 200% and we’re still going to get cooked in here.”  
“If we were to run the emitters at 200%, we would destroy the emitters and we would no longer have shields,” Sun replied.  
Johanna Imex grimaced. “Mr. Sun, I’m not ready to die. I never thought if it happened out here that I would see it coming.” Imex was, like Lt. Gamor, tall and muscular, stronger and heavier than Ensign Sun. “You can run the numbers, Sir – do you think we’re going to survive this?”  
Sun turned his chair to face her. “Given the vector, depth and intensity of the approaching gamma radiation field, our current course of action provides the best chance for survival, which I would estimate at one in several hundred million.”  
Imex rose from her chair, paced a little. “I envy you, Mr. Sun. You are far more vulcan than I am. Odds like that are pretty much the same as certain death. I don’t see how you can be so calm...”  
“My mother is vulcan. Given your appearance, I always assumed you were half too. You have the look,” Sun said.  
Imex unconsciously touched her ear. “Paternal great-grandmother,” she said. She flipped her ear-tip with a finger. “Except for these, I’m completely human. You’re always so calm, so… aloof… I mean, not aloof, but nothing seems to get to you.”  
Sun raised an eyebrow. “When I was a child, I was told I would have to choose between being vulcan and being human. I’ve honestly never felt I had to make a decision. I’ve never tried to be one or the other. I have a bajoran grandfather on my father’s side – but no one ever told me I had to figure out how to be bajoran.”  
Imex brought her face close to Sun’s face, studying his nose. She caressed his nose with her finger, laughed nervously. “I can barely see it, but I can feel it – the nose ridge – just a little.” Her finger trailed across his nose again.  
Sun blushed violently and looked down suddenly, caught his breath.  
“So that’s what makes Mr. Sun rise,” said Imex, smiling suddenly.  
“I…” Sun’s voice was suddenly hushed, nervous, aware for the first time that he was probably a decade younger than the navigator. “I never went through Pon Farr. I always assumed that part of me was human…”  
“Maybe it’s bajoran,” Imex teased, still caressing Sun’s nose. “Does it have ridges too? We have 17 minutes left to live… Let’s find out…”  
“I have to make sure the emitters hit 110%...” Sun managed..  
“Oh they’ll hit 110%… I’ll drive Mr. Sun,” Imex said. “You just keep an eye on those emitters…”  
“Maybe you should call me Hui?”

\- * -

Justice Minerva Irons, Dr. Tali Shae and Lt. Commander Mlady were in Irons’ office, quietly watching through the window behind Irons’ desk. Not that they expected to see anything. Gamma radiation, deadly to all life forms, is far outside of the visible light spectrum, even for bolians. Seconds before the gamma wave was scheduled to arrive, just as Ensign Sun was swatting unnecessarily at the manual switch to bring the Hunter’s shield emitters to 110%, the entire debris field suddenly came alive with brilliant green light. Countless, apparently random particles of debris were instantly connected into a vast, cascading green web. Irons stood up and walked to the window, joined by Tali and Mlady, looking out in wonder at what was evidently a vast machine come to life.  
Many areas flickered on and off, presumably allowing significant amounts of the deadly gamma radiation through. But in the Hunter’s immediate environs, and in several other areas, the field remained strong. The entire event lasted less than four minutes, then the lights gradually began to fade.  
Pep’s voice was broadcast shipwide: “The gamma wave has, apparently, collapsed. All sectors report any damage or contamination…”

Minerva Irons turned to Tali Shae and Mlady and smiled. “Now _that_ is a deus ex machina.”

10.11


	12. Episode 10.12 - The U.S.S. Defiant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .  
Lt. Kenny Dolphin commandeers the U.S.S. Defiant, enraging Deep Space 9's Bajoran Army commander. He takes the famous ship on a bizarre mission...
> 
> _“I don’t know who you think you are, or how you have such influence with Star Fleet Command. This jointly operated space station is the Defiant’s duty station and you are not taking that ship anywhere without DS9 command staff present. Besides, I cannot spare any pilots to fly you back to Earth.”_  
_“I am a pilot, and I am qualified on Escort class starships,” Dolphin replied._  
_Norma focused on Dolphin’s face. “Who are you? You look familiar…”_  
.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .  
The first beat of the reinvention of Governor Ivonovic...

10.12  
The U.S.S. Defiant

It had been decades since Kenny Dolphin had travelled with a suitcase. But one had been provided for him – hand-made and designed to carry no more than two suits. As much as he had enjoyed the feeling of wearing a suit, donning a Star Fleet uniform on his return to Deep Space 9 – even though it was the traditional yellow operations uniform rather than the black JAG uniform he had worn for the past several months – felt lighter and more natural to him. He had no reason to keep the gray 3-piece suit and contributed it and the shoes he had worn with it to the replicator in return for a uniform. He did keep the hand-made Gillano suit given to him at Pilgrim’s Landing. The hand-made Wellingtons were the most comfortable boots he had ever worn and were acceptable for Star Fleet uniforms. They easily added an inch to his not inconsiderable height.  
The stateroom provided to him on DS9 as an active duty Star Fleet officer seemed enormous – nearly three times the size of the lounge he shared with three other department directors on the Hunter. And this was one of the smaller accommodations aboard DS9.   
Dolphin had already made a call to a cultural archeologist on Earth, which led to a conversation with a Federation Councilmember, which in turn led to conversations with two top Star Fleet admirals and a member of the Federation Tribunal, calling in favors that really weren’t his to call - deftly borrowing influence from his captain. Dolphin almost felt as though he might get a nosebleed from traveling in such powerful company. He knew he was on thin ice with this plan and that his actions were certain to get him into serious trouble with his captain. But his plan had the virtue of being the oldest and most reliable ploy in any prosecutor’s playbook: set a thief to catch a thief.

Colonel Norma Bacys, the Bajoran Army commander of DS9, was less than receptive to him. She looked at Dolphin suspiciously. With her Star Fleet operations officer and head of security suddenly called away on a mission by Star Fleet Command, Dolphin, as a first lieutenant, was the ranking Star Fleet officer on DS9. Col. Norma was outraged when he pulled rank to commandeer the U.S.S. Defiant. Finding out that this move was authorized at the highest levels of Star Fleet did little to assuage her wrath.

“I don’t know who you think you are, or how you have such influence with Star Fleet Command. This jointly operated space station is the Defiant’s duty station and you are not taking that ship anywhere without DS9 command staff present. Besides, I cannot spare any pilots to fly you back to Earth.”  
“I am a pilot, and I am qualified on Escort class starships,” Dolphin replied.  
Norma focused on Dolphin’s face. “Who are you? You look familiar…”  
“Lieutenant Kenneth Dolphin. I am currently on detached assignment, but my duty post is director of flight operations on the U.S.S. Hunter.”  
The bajoran station commander shook her head. “It’s gone. You just look familiar. Something about your voice too. Okay, since I cannot stop you from taking the Defiant, I am coming with you. I will be in command of this mission.”  
“I will provide you the mission specifications once we are onboard,” Dolphin replied. “This will be a bit of an unusual mission.”  
“We depart in 15 minutes, Lieutenant.” Norma’s tone was formal and dismissive.  
“Thank you sir. I will see you on board.” Protocol allowed Dolphin to salute a superior officer from an allied or incorporated military. Dolphin gave his best salute, waited a few heartbeats and when it was not returned, turned sharply and exited the colonel’s office.

Onboard the Defiant, Norma had not warmed to Dolphin at all. His mission description did nothing to alleviate the tension – especially the requirement that the bulk of the mission be carried out using the romulan cloaking device that the Defiant still carried. The Romulan Senate had not asked for the cloaking device to be returned. This was in no small part because of the assistance Star Fleet and Bajor had both provided helping to evacuate Romulus during the Hobus event. With both the Federation and Bajor still providing food aid and other materials to help the romulans rebuild on their colonies, relations were still not warm. But both the Romulan Senate and their military regarded the presence of a Star Fleet vessel able to carry out missions in the Gamma Quadrant under cloak to be a useful backstop against potential treaty violations by the Dominion.  
Once Dolphin had provided the mission specifications, Colonel Norma Bacys exhibited no further desire to converse with him. From the pilot’s console, he could feel her eyes burning holes in the back of his skull. The joint Star Fleet and Bajoran Army crew had picked up on Col. Norma’s displeasure and were walking on eggshells. They tried to avoid speaking at all costs. After a stop at a distant Federation colony, Dolphin changed course and put the Defiant on a heading directly toward Earth, traveling at warp 6 – the highest speed at which the cloaking device was still highly effective.  
Once the course was laid in and all systems were secured, Col. Norma ordered the bridge cleared except for Dolphin. She ordered the transporter chief to the bridge along with the guest they had just picked up. Dolphin swiveled as the transporter engineer, a Bajoran Army officer, escorted Governor Ivonovic onto the bridge, and then left when she was dismissed by the colonel.

“So you are the infamous Dr. Kenny Dolphin… I knew that I knew you from somewhere,” Norma said to Dolphin. She turned toward Ivonovic. “And I know who you are too. Now someone had better tell me what this is all about.”  
“I have been charged by the Federation Council with escorting our guest to Nairobi,” said Dolphin.  
“I have formally surrendered the office of planetary governor of the Colony of New Hope,” Ivonovic said. “Governor Scott Cavanaugh, my former Vice Governor, has recalled our representative to the Federation Council and appointed me in her place. I am to report to the Council as ordered by my new governor. When we arrive at Earth, Dr. Dolphin and I are to be transported directly into the council chambers in Nairobi.”  
“You are a fugitive from justice!” Col. Norma almost roared. “You cannot be seated on the council!”  
Dolphin spoke up, “Under the Federation Charter and the Tribunal Charter, unless and until the council refuses to seat Governor... um… that is… umm… Councilmember Ivonovic, the Tribunal does not have jurisdiction over him.”  
“What, are you a lawyer too?”  
“Actually, for the duration of this mission,” Dolphin replied, “I’m his lawyer…”  
“You’re enjoying this way too much,” Ivonovic intoned. He turned toward Col. Norma. “I should tell you that the final broadcast for Subspace Radio Ivonovic is airing now. You might want to tune in…”

  
10.12


	13. Episode 10.13 - The Library of the Progenitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .  
The crew of the U.S.S. Hunter explore the ancient library of the progenitors...
> 
> _Nearly an hour later, the Hunter was inside an enormous, open structure. The Hunter’s floodlights only provided partial lighting inside an area that could support a large number of large space vessels. On one side of a transparent barrier was what appeared to be a vast, dense field of randomly swirling particles. On the other side was enclosed space that the Hunter floated in – and that entirely dwarfed the patrol vessel. A series of 144 transparent tubes containing what were evidently workstations was attached to the transparent wall that bifurcated this enormous structure. Each tubular booth contained six workstations..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .  
For some reason this fan fiction about the future is filled with libraries and actual books - as if such things will exist in such a future...

10.13  
The Library of the Progenitors

About the time that Lieutenant Kenneth Dolphin was making calls from Deep Space 9 and using Justice Irons’ influence in ways that would almost certainly put him in her bad graces, the U.S.S. Hunter, fresh from being saved and dwarfed by the giant machine 800 light years below the galactic plane of the Milky Way, was once again dwarfed - this time by an enormous ring structure that completely encircled a star. The ring was approximately a kilometer deep, between 0.5 and 15 kilometers wide and almost 16 light minutes in diameter.   
The ring was bilaterally symmetrical, with two large sections that were 15 kilometers wide - on exact opposite sides of the star - and tapered to a width of a half-kilometer. These two narrow segments served as axis points for the ring structure as it revolved, creating an enormous gyroscopic motion around its star.

“These people had way too much time on their hands,” said Pep.   
The senior staff were observing a holographic projection of the structure in the executive conference room.   
“Please tell me that whole thing isn’t the library…” said Gamor.  
Tauk allowed himself a light cough, cleared his throat, then said, “The library isn’t there at all. It is in a separate orbit, farther out.”  
Gamor called for the ship’s interactive avatar: “Hunter…”  
The avatar appeared next to the holographic display of the ring structure.  
“It’s good to see you again, Hunter,” said Dr. Carrera.  
“Thank you, Dr. Carrera,” the elderly looking hologram replied. “Lieutenant Gamor, I assume you want me to display the library?”  
“Yes please.”  
The avatar turned toward the display, which pulled out, then zoomed in on what appeared at first to be a small planet in an orbit beyond the ring. As the image grew, it became apparent that it was not a moon, but a very large machine, encircled by a debris field similar to the one they had encountered below the galactic plane.  
“Can we take the Hunter inside that field?” asked Justice Minerva Irons.  
“Yes,” Hunter replied. “The structure inside the field appears to be open - I project that we can enter the structure and travel safely inside it.”  
“Is that field active? Will it protect us against gamma waves?” asked Lieutenant Commander Mlady.  
“We could test it with a short gamma burst,” Dr. Carrera replied.  
“Approved,” Irons said. “Test it, then take us inside. We will reconvene once we have a sense of what’s in there.”

Nearly an hour later, the Hunter was inside an enormous, open structure. The Hunter’s floodlights only provided partial lighting inside an area that could support a large number of large space vessels. On one side of a transparent barrier was what appeared to be a vast, dense field of randomly swirling particles. On the other side was enclosed space that the Hunter floated in – and that entirely dwarfed the patrol vessel. A series of 144 transparent tubes containing what were evidently workstations was attached to the transparent wall that bifurcated this enormous structure. Each tubular booth contained six workstations.  
The Hunter started near one side wall of this structure, traveling slowly just below the level of the workstation booths. An atmosphere was beamed into one of the workstation booths, pressurizing it. Then two of Hunter’s crew beamed in, wearing full EVA suits. After a few moments, they removed their gloves and helmets, which remained attached to their EVA suits by lanyards and floated nearby; apparently there was no artificial gravity within these booths. The Hunter crewmembers sat side-by-side at two of the workstations. After a few more moments, the Library came alive - particles on the other side of the transparent barrier whirled, a number of particles racing toward the workstation booth - forming images and what appeared to be writing against the wall in front of the workstations.   
The Hunter moved on, pressurizing another booth and beaming in two more researchers. Some of the booths were broken and could not be pressurized, but most of them were intact. Two-person teams were deployed at 15-minute intervals and allowed to work for two hours. At the end of that time, each two-member team would be beamed back to the Hunter, followed by the atmosphere the Hunter had used to pressurize the booth.   
Both interceptors launched from the Hunter and trailed the boat, using their sensors to record the images that each team managed to evoke from the Library and transmitting those to the Hunter for storage.

Irons had a crew full of brilliant individuals with diverse and broad educations and backgrounds. To make best use of this brainpower, each crewmember was given at least one two-hour shift within the library booths to attempt to understand how to operate the Library’s reading technology, find the information that Admiral Scumuk had somehow found and decipher the alien language.   
Predictably, Flight Engineer Tomos, who had been a curator at the library at the Sanctuary of the Waterbirds on Cophus II for most of his life, was the first to understand how to use the workstations and how to focus the search for what the Library-makers - whom everyone assumed were the progenitors - knew about the gamma wave, what they knew about the great machine below the galactic plane that apparently had been built to protect the Milky Way against those gamma waves, and the function of the ring structure the Library shared this solar system with.  
It was also not surprising that Dr. Carrera and Lt. Tauk, the Hunter’s two most brilliant mathematicians, were able to identify the math - which a majority of the characters presented by the Library represented - was built on a base 12 number system. With help from the many other crew members with advanced math training, including the transporter engineers and the navigators, they were able to learn how the higher math functions worked.  
The language itself was cracked by the Hunter’s giant first officer, Commander David Pepper, whose doctorate in literature had exposed him to both the written and spoken forms of more than a dozen alien languages. These crewmembers were highly productive and took several shifts in the library booths. Other crew members might have made only one or two useful observations - or none - during their first shift. But Irons made sure each crew member served at least two shifts in the booths and each found their second shift far more productive than the first.   
Irons pulled two shifts in the booths herself, but dedicated most of her effort to working with the interactive holographic avatar to develop an overview of the cascade of information being elicited by the crew from the Library.  
It swiftly became evident that the 144 workstation booths functioned identically. Nonetheless, Irons kept the Hunter moving slowly, determined to use as many of these booths as were functional. This strategy paid off when Transporter Engineer K’rok, during a shift in one of the booths discovered a sheaf of large square papers on the floor of the booth. These turned out to be detailed notes in Admiral Scumuk’s handwriting. Once these were deciphered and the information propagated to the research teams, the search for the needed information leapt into high gear.

One of the results from all this research was a prediction of the frequency and timing of the onslaught of gamma waves into this region of space. During the 36-hour period Irons had allowed for the initial research, the Library’s gamma shield had activated 6 times with wave protection periods between two and eight minutes. A quiet period of 49 hours was predicted, which would give the Hunter sufficient time to return to the protected hangar near the romulan border where it had survived a previous gamma wave. Which put a hard deadline to the crew’s research at the Library.

10.13


	14. Episode 10.14 - Who Built the Hulk?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .  
Dr. Napoleon Boles has studied the origins of the Hulk and reveals who it was that built the great machine...
> 
> _Boles smiled grimly. “The progenitors genetically altered their own people to transform them into the race that constructed and maintained the Hulk. That ring structure was the cradle of that race. And I am fairly certain we will need their descendants to come back to the Hulk to repair it. They are probably the Alpha Quadrant’s only hope. The only people who can repair the Hulk.”_
> 
> _Tali Shae banged the conference table with her fist, making her cup jump. Her antennae jumped with it… “Who???”_  
.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .  
This is an origin story. When I get to Episode 22, this story will start to open up...

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 10: Interview with an Ethicist  
Scene 14: Who Made the Hulk?

10.14  
Who Made the Hulk?

As the Hunter was returning toward Federation space, Irons held a shipwide conference. Irons and most of the senior staff (except Mlady, who was in command) were gathered in the executive conference room, but their images and voices were transmitted holographically to several points throughout the boat, including the bridge, ground operations, medical and engineering.

Irons was summarizing what had been learned: “So we now know that the relative movement of the Gamma Gun Galaxy…”  
“Are we really calling it that?” Dr. Tali Shae asked.  
“That is the name Navigator Imex gave it. She discovered it; she names it. As I was saying, from the relative movement of the Gamma Gun Galaxy to ours, those gamma waves will destroy all life in the Alpha Quadrant over the next 4,000 years. The more immediate problem is that they will very soon make romulan territory uninhabitable. We do not have locations on all romulan colonies, but any colonies near the Dead Zone will need to be evacuated - as soon as within the next decade.”  
Pep spoke up. “We also know that our big green friend down there that eats gamma radiation is also moving relative to our galaxy to continue to protect the galaxy from the gamma waves. And it would do so effectively if, what Admiral Scumuk referred to as ‘the Hulk’ was in proper working order.”  
“And we know how the Hulk was built,” said Lieutenant Napoleon Boles. “Or more precisely, who built it.”  
  
All eyes turned to Lt. Boles.  
  
“I got interested in the ring structure,” Boles continued. “It, and the Library, are located too close to the Hulk to be a coincidence. I asked Navigator Imex to confirm - not only is the Hulk moving to track the incoming gamma waves, so is the Library and its solar system. I figured the ring structure was some sort of factory for some critical component of the Hulk. And I was right… The progenitors came to that ring by the billions to become the workers that built the Hulk. I don’t know if they came voluntarily. A new race was created in that ring. A race uniquely equipped to build and maintain the Hulk. And now we know why that technology looked so familiar. We have seen its derivative.”  
Tali Shae was mildly annoyed. “Okay Napoleon, enough with the dramatic build up. What are you talking about?”  
Boles smiled grimly. “The progenitors genetically altered their own people to transform them into the race that constructed and maintained the Hulk. That ring structure was the cradle of that race. And I am fairly certain we will need their descendants to come back to the Hulk to repair it. They are probably the Alpha Quadrant’s only hope. The only people who can repair the Hulk.”

Tali Shae banged the conference table with her fist, making her cup jump. Her antennae jumped with it… “Who???”

Napoleon Boles’ voice was flat: “The Borg…”

10 - Interview With An Ethicist

  
Crew of the U.S.S. Hunter: (Ship's Interactive Holographic Avatar - Hunter)  
  
At-Large Appellate Justice, Captain Minerva Irons  
Chief Executive Officer - Commander David Pepper  
Chief Operations Officer - Lt. Commander Mlady

Medical Director - Lt. Commander Tali Shae  
Asst. Medical Director - 2nd Lt. Jazz Sam Sinder  
Ensign Chrissiana Trei  
Forensic Specialist - Midshipman Sif  
Emergency Medical Hologram - Dr. Raj  
Tactical Medical Hologram - Dr. Kim  
  
Director of Flight Operations - Lt. Kenneth Dolphin  
Asst. Flight Dir. - 2nd Lt. Gaia Gamor  
Navigator Johanna Imex  
Navigator Eli Strahl  
Ensign Ethan Phillips  
Chief Flight Specialist Dewayne Guth  
Flight Specialist Dih Terri  
Flight Specialist Joey Chin  
Flight Specialist Winnifreid Salazaar  
  
Director of Ground Operations - Lt. Tauk  
Asst. Ground Ops Dir. - 2nd Lt. T’Lon   
Investigator Lynhart Shran  
Investigator Buttons Ngumbo  
Ensign Tolon Reeves  
Tactical Specialist Jarrong  
Tactical Specialist Belo Rys  
Tactical Specialist Belo Garr  
Tactical Specialist Belo Cantys  
  
Director of Engineering - Lt. Sarekson Carrera  
Asst. Engineering Dir. - 2nd Lt. Moon Sun Salek  
Midshipman Tammy Brazil  
Transporter Engineer K'rok  
Ensign Sun Ho Hui  
Flight Engineer Yolanda Thomas  
Flight Engineer Thomas Hobbs  
Flight Engineer Tomos  
Flight Engineer Kerry Gibbon


End file.
